John s



(No Model.) I

J. S. CRANE.

KNITTING MAGHINE BURR.

No. 441,612. Patented Nov. 25, 1890.

,4 a1 m C ""7 f/ M B 1 g 0 a 9 e WWI mo or John/S. Crane g UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. CRANE, OF LAKE VILLAGE, NElV HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO THECRANEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

KNITTING-MACHINE BURR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 441,612, dated November25, 1890.

Application filed January 22, 1890. Serial No. 337,700. (No model.) I

. T aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN S. CRANE, of Lake Village, in the county ofBelkuap and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Knitting- Machine Burrs and Sinkers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to burrs and sinkers of knitting-machines,and particularly to the construction of the hubs or brasses thereof, andof the wings or blades employed therewith.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction of thehubs orbrasses such that theinclined wings or blades may be securely andrigidly held therein.

The present improvements over the usual construction of burrs or sinkersand of the wings or blades are illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a side view of an ordinary hub or brass of a burror sinker with the inclined wings or blades removed, showing theinclined position of the slots which receive and hold the wings orblades. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of a burr or sinker of theusual construction, the wings or blades being shown on one side andremoved on the other and the wing-slots being disregarded. Fig. 3 is acentral section of a part of an ordinary burr or sinker in a planeparallel with one of the inclined wing-slots, showing in dotted lines awing in position. Fig. 4 is a view of one of the ordinary wings orblades. Fi 5 is a central vertical section of the hub or brass of aburror sinker provided with the present improvements, in this figure, as inFig. 2, the wing-slots not being shown. Fig. 6 is a section similar toFig. 3, showing the hub or brass provided with the improvements, andshowing in dotted lines one of the wings or blades in position; and Fig.7 is a View of one of the improved wings or blades.

Referring to all of the figures, A is the hub or brass having theusualinclined slots at for the reception of the wings or blades B, and Cis the locking-bush which looks the wings or blades in place, clampingthe projections 17 of the wings or blades against the seaton the hub orbrass, all in the usual and wellknown manner.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, illustrating the usual and well-knownconstruction of the hubs or brasses, the hub or brass is seen to consistof an upper inwardly-extending flange c, (which is provided with aninclined seat at, against which the usual dovetailed projections Z) ofthe wings or blades are clamped,) a lower inwardly-projecting flange 6,parallel with the flange c, (which strengthflange is formed, and theouter rim is made of the proper thickness by reaming or channeling outthe material, thus forming a channel 9 between the two flanges. Theinclined Wingslots a extend entirely across the width of the hub orbrass, as shown in Fig. 1, this being 7 essential to enable thedovetailed projections of the wings or blades to be placed in-position,and they are cut of sufficient depth so as to pass entirely through therim fthroughout its width, as shown in Fig. 3. The slots at are formedby means of a rotary cutter which necessarily cuts them in a straightline, (as is necessary for the reception of the wings or blades,) butowing to the inclination of the slots to the axis of the hub or brass asection of the hub or brass in the plane of one of the slots shows acurved line (an arc of an ellipse) for the edges of the rim f.

Now, as hitherto constructed, the outer and inner surfaces of the rim fhave been parallel, 5

so that the rim isv of the same thickness throughout, and as the rim isnecessarily comparatively thin certain disadvantages and defects haveexisted in the burrs and sinke'rs.

Generally speaking, the operation of thewings 9 or blades of burrs andsinkers is to divide or pass between the needles of a spring-needleknitting-machine, and consequently it is essential that the wings shouldbe maintained rigidly and fixedly in position with no lateral movement,so that there may be no danger of their striking the bodies of theneedles. The only lateral support which each win g or blade receives isfrom the side walls of the slot in which it fits, and the amount ofeffective sup- I port thus received is limited to the thickness of therim f. In order that the wings or blades may be inserted in the slots,it is necessary that the width of each slot should be slightly greaterthan the thickness of each wing or blade, and consequently each wing orblade is capable of a slight lateral movement, which becomes less andless as the rim f is thickened.

Now the first part of the present improvements consists in givingincreased effective thickness to the rim f, for the purpose ofstifiening the wings or blades, rendering them more rigid and reducingto the minimum their lateral play. This is accomplished by the meansshown in Figs. 5 and 0'. Instead of making the inner wall or face of therim f parallel with the outer wall, it is formed bulging inwardly orarched, as shown at i, so that while the rim at its upper and lowerparts or edges, where it connects with the upper and lower flanges c e,is of the same thickness as hitherto, it is thickened at its center, sothat at'its thickest part the rim is nearly twice as thick as hithertomade. In this manner the effective thickness of the rim for stiffeningthe wings or blades is as great as if the entire rim were as thick as itis at its center, and in this manner the object of the invention isaccomplished; In thus providing for the stiff ening of the wings orblades there is no interference with the manner of putting the wings orblades in position, there is no alteration in the dimensions of theburrs or sinkers or of the wings or blades, there is no changenecessitated in the mode of manufacture, and there is no change requiredin the tools employed in making them, except in the shape of the reamingor channeling tool which forms the channel J. There is no changerequired in the rotary cutter which cuts the inclined slots. The path ofthe cutting-edge is indicated in dotted lines in Figs.3 and 6. Ithashitherto been necessary to cut deep enough to cut away the upper andlower portions of the rim, as indicated at 0 o, and the same are whichincludes these two points also includes the bulge or arch 2'.Consequently the wingslots pass entirely through the rim, as heretofore.

The present invention enables the space between the inner edge of therim f and the path of the cutting-tool to be utilized to give room forincreased thickness to the central part of the rim, and advantage istaken of the fact that an angular section of a cylinder produces anellipse.

The second part of the present improvements relates to the constructionof the looking projections 12 of the wings or blades, and

to the reciprocal construction of the brass or hub and of thelocking-bush. As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the old-style wings haddovetailed locking projections which were locked between inclined seatson the hub or brass and the locking-bush, respectively. Thisconstruction necessitated very careful and nice manipulations upon thebrass, bush, and wing in order to prevent any radial play of the wing.

In accordance with the present improvements, the dovetailed form of thewing projection is abandoned, and, as shown in Fig. 7, the wingprojection 19 is formed with a square shoulder s on one edge and a fiatfacet on 1ts opposite edge. The square shoulders engages an annularsquare shoulder on 011 the hub or brass, whereby all radial play of thewing is prevented, and the wing is locked in place by the hub, whichsimply seats against the flat face 25 of the wing-projection.

The locking-face of the bush 0 requires no special channeling to enableit to fit the wing projections, but is simply made flat so as to seatagainst the flat faces 251 of the wing projections, and so prevent anymovement of the wings lengthwise of the wing-slots.

I claim as my invention- 1. A knitting-machine burr or sinker having therim of its hub or brass through which the inclined wing-slots are cutmade thicker at its center than at its edges, substantially as setforth.

2. A knitting-machine burr or sinker having the rim of its hub orbrassthrough which the inclined wing-slots are cut made thicker at its centerthan at its edges,-the additional thickness being produced by making theinner wall or face of the rim bulging inwardly at its center,substantially as set forth.

3. The hub or brass of a knitting-machine burr or sinker formed with asquare annular shoulder m and wings or blades the lockin projection ofeach of which is formed on one edge with a square shoulder s, engagingsaid square shoulder in, and on the opposite edge with a flat face i, incombination with alocking-bush 0, having a fiat face which seats againstthe flat faces t of said wings or blades,

substantially as set forth. a

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN S. CRANE.

'Witnesses:

B. F. DRAKE, ARTHUR S. BROWNE.

IOC.

